Saturday, January 07, 2017

German Vice Chancellor: EU Breakup Could Happen

It doesn't take much to go from inconceivable to conceivable.
The European Union is no longer inevitable. If Frexit follows Brexit,
then the collapse of the EU will become very difficult to stave off.

Germany's insistence on austerity in the euro zone has left Europe
more divided than ever and a break-up of the European Union is no longer
inconceivable, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Der Spiegel
magazine.
Gabriel, whose Social Democrats (SPD) are junior
partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in her ruling grand
coalition, said strenuous efforts by countries like France and Italy to
reduce their fiscal deficits came with political risks.
"I
once asked the chancellor, what would be more costly for Germany: for
France to be allowed to have half a percentage point more deficit, or
for Marine Le Pen to become president?" he said, referring to the leader
of the far-right National Front.

The percentage
point is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Yes the financials are
a major issue, but that's a structural problem within the European
Union. And holding the line there was one of the few things that Merkel
got right. Changing that would just make the EU unsustainable even
faster while producing a very limited public opinion firewall. The
stronger members of the European Union are more likely to think, as the
UK did, that they can do better economically on their own. And Germany
will see its benefits disappear if it tries to keep the EU going on its
own.
None of this addresses independence and migration. Or the simple fact
that many Europeans feel like the EU is a stifling blanket that takes a
great deal and provides very little, that robs countries of their
autonomy, but is unable to cope with even simple problems that
individual nations could handle far better... if they were allowed to. http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/265391/german-vice-chancellor-eu-breakup-could-happen-daniel-greenfield